Why we still need Feminism . . . or, asshole commenters of the day.

So I usually have a policy of not publishing nasty comments because they don't add much to the general quality of my life. And I rarely get nasty comments - probably because most of the people who read this are my friends who don't say nasty things about me. But two recent comments have been irking me lately, so I thought I would just post them right up here.

The first, from someone who calls himself "Dude":
"You're so right that legal abortion and feminism has [sic] been great for our country. Think about what would have happened if Roe v. Wade hadn't occurred - illegitimate births would be 10% instead of 40%, divorce rate would be nowhere close to 50%, crime would be much lower (you know, that whole respecting life thing) and intelligent women would be having babies instead of us importing uneducated Mexicans to pay for our retirement. You're right, what was the "religious right" thinking?"

Ok, so let's take this apart section by section. First, I wonder where Dude got these statistics about illegitimate births. I don't like numbers that aren't backed up by non-partisan studies. So I am going to go ahead and toss that little factoid out the window. Likewise with the divorce rate comment. How does Dude know that legalized abortion has made the divorce rate higher? Or is that supposed to be feminism that created the 50% rate, I'm not sure. And if it is feminism that has pushed the divorce rate to 50%, what does that say about marriages prior to women pushing for equality?
And on to crime . . . again this speculation is not backed up by anything other than a glib comment about respecting life. Please point me to the statistics that show the steady increase in crime to which you are referring; statistics that control for socioeconomic factors, education, and violent upbringing in abusive homes, and that point only to how abortion increases crime. My guess is you cannot find such numbers. In fact my cursory research on crime suggests the opposite.
I respect life - enough to volunteer to give women education, the tools to improve and control their sexuality, to trust them to make the choices that are best for them and their families. I wonder if Dude volunteers. I wonder if his respect for life extends to fetuses outside of the womb - actually I don't. Because Dude makes it quite clear that he doesn't respect the "Mexicans" that we selfish, non-child bearing women import to do our dirty work for us. I'll bet Dude respects white male life above all else, but that's just an observation of mine, not a fact (see how I differentiate between opinion and fact there?).
And about those intelligent women not having babies. . . Let me make it crystal clear to you, Dude; I AM NOT JUST A UTERUS. Neither is any other woman on the planet, "intelligent" or not. I am a woman with aspirations, goals, ideals, friends, family - in short, a woman with a life who may or may not choose to ever have children. Not having them would not take away any of the qualities that comprise my humanity. I'll bet that's a tough one to wrap your brain around - the idea that women are people, too.
And that brings us back to feminism. Anyone who decries feminism either doesn't understand the concept, or doesn't like women. Feminism is the quest for equality in society for women - it is NOT about making women "better than" men. It is not about hating men, or getting rid of them altogether. It is the recognition that there are problems with equality between the genders in our society, and the desire to right those wrongs. What wrongs, you ask? Here are a few:
* Women with the same degrees and qualifications as male counterparts earn less in the workplace - a discrepancy that holds up even when controlling for things like maternity leave. This difference appears within one year of similarly situated men and women entering the workforce.
* Women pay as much as 3 times more than men, out of pocket, for healthcare - even for those services that are necessary for basic health.
* Between 1/4 and 1/3 of women will be sexually assaulted or sexually abused in her lifetime. Only about 1/4 of those attacks will be by strangers. More than half of those women will not report the abuse because they feel they will not be believed, and because the criminal justice system is set up to prosecute "stranger rapes" - ignoring the fact that most women know their attackers. In fact, the "better" a woman knows her attacker, the less likely he is to ever be punished for raping her. Every year, over a million women are forcibly raped by their current or former male partner.
* The number of women who have been murdered by their intimate partners is greater than the number of soldiers killed in the Vietnam War - approximately 1,400 per year.

And all of these are numbers you can actually confirm. Sadly, they are merely a few of the problems facing women in this country. And the picture is even worse when you factor in women from other countries. So, Dude, I am finished with you. Because I am confident in myself, I believe in the necessity of feminism, and such comments only push me to be more vocal about the challenges women face and to do my small part to work for solutions.

Oh - and if you were wondering about the other asshole commenter of the day, "anonymous" said I was an ugly bitch. Those who can't argue with logic turn to name-calling, I suppose.